The Missouri Foundation for Health is funding a project that will bring Walker Scottish Rite Clinic’s licensed professional speech-language pathologists and graduate students from Maryville’s Speech-Language Pathology program to YWCA Head Start North County Center, 10725 Vorhof Dr. It opens on Friday, March 23.
This brings important therapy to an area of St. Louis where it has been largely inaccessible. The geographical barrier is a very real problem for parents juggling work schedules or dependent on mass transit. In addition, many children have problems that fall just shy of the thresholds for state-funded programs or cannot afford insurance for private therapy. These factors have deprived those children of needed services.
Walker Scottish Rite Clinic, a fully integrated program of Maryville University, will teach children ages 2 to 6 with speech and language disorders the communication skills necessary to succeed in school and life through early identification, long-term therapy and parental training. The services will be available to any child, but children in YWCA Head Start centers will receive preference.
According to the National Institutes of Health, speech and language delays and deficits may lead to impairments in social interaction, behavior, and academic achievement with life-long implications. Identifying and addressing these problems early can mitigate the impact.